Criteria for division of the wedding rite structure

Based on the proposed by the author structure of division of a traditional ritual wedding cycle into stages, small cycles of separate rites and episodes, wide prospect for further research is opened. The criteria for division of cycle and each rite into episodes are considered: new-level or generalizing repetition of the event, material and spiritual metamorphosis of characters of sacred action, change of a sacred chronotope, principle of constant renewal. Due to the said criteria, compositions of small cycles and stages of transition are studied that enables to divide the rites into epicentric and eccentric.